Authorities believe a dog may have chewed through dry wall and a power chord which controlled the air conditioning for the barn where the dogs were housed.

MCSO Facebook page

Sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning, according to AZCentral.com, 17 dogs being boarded at the Green Acre pet boarding facility located between Ocotillo and Greenfield Roads in Gilbert, died from apparent heat exhaustion.

According to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, one of the dogs chewed through a power chord which was attached to the air conditioning unit for the barn structure where the dogs were housed. The MCSO is calling the situation a "tragic accident."

The boarding facilities' owners were out of town when the accident occurred reported abcnews15.com; the kennels were being cared for by the owner's daughter and son-in-law. When they checked on the dogs, they noticed that the animals were "struggling" and brought the dogs outside and hosed them down to cool their body temperatures. Seventeen dogs died.

Owners of the dogs have been showing up and are devastated about the loss of their pets.

The Green Acre Cage Free Dog Boarding website has been removed as has their Facebook page.

MCSO spokesperson, Chris Hegstrom stated an investigation is continuing, and authorities are checking if the business had the proper accreditation.

Meanwhile, dog owners were not initially told the truth. When families were told their dogs had escaped and run away when the air conditioning stopped, dog owners were driving around for hours searching for their dogs. Dog owners are demanding answers.

Rest in peace dogs.

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